We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Mondragon as a Bridge to a New Socialism: A Review of Five Books with Radical Critiques and New Ideas

by Carl Davidson from Solidarity Economy

There is much to be learned from the Basque experiment in worker cooperatives: both positive and negative. This review of five books on the subject may be helpful as a start.